The Avengers: Age of Ultron (12A.)
Directed by Joss Whedon.
Starring Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johanasson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner. 141 mins
These days I'm never far away from someone telling me that they no longer go out to the cinema because it is being killed by all these stupid superhero movies. I strongly disagree; some of the most thrilling and inventive pieces of cinema of recent years have been from comic books and I'd definitely include the first Avengers film in that. The follow up seems to improve on it in most every aspect, being funnier, faster and containing almost non-stop action. It just isn't as much fun, though. If you aren't totally committed to all the intricacies of the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe saga, it may be the moment when all this superhero stuff gets a bit much.
When the child became a man, he put away childish things. When Joss Whedon became a man he kept the childish things, but just wrote them in a grown up way. In the Avengers films he catches the voices just right. He gives these superheroes self awareness and allows them to laugh and revel at their own absurdity, which gives the wider audience more license to accept their own silliness in caring about them.
The first had a marvelous innocence to it, and an infectious joy. There's precious little innocence here. The film jumps straight into a battle scene and keeps things moving at a fearful clip, as if there was an enormous checklist of stuff to get through and the film is just racing to tick off all the boxes. Early on there is a party sequence where most of the cast exchange quips and the kind of casual debunking that made the first film so enjoyable. But such is the squeeze caused by the need to shove in all the old and new characters and get through the five major action sequences that after this the dialogue scenes become “talky bits” where the film seems to stop dead in its tracks and people nip off to the toilet.
In the first one Whedon finally gave us a successful on-screen Hulk. In this one he manages to find a use for Jeremy Renner's bow and arrow man Hawkeye. He also makes The Avengers an allegory of American foreign policy. They don't save New York this time, but instead operate in a world that is wary of these US backed bringer of justice. At one point the Hulk goes on a rampage in an African city, demolishing a building that collapses and generates a dust cloud reminiscent of 9/11.
Age of Ultron is, by any reckoning, tremendous entertainment. It has a wonderful cast delivering great dialogue amongst beautifully rendered set pieces. It is everything you'd expect of it and that everything gets to be kind of arduous.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Thor 2
Iron Man 3
.
The Avengers: Age of Ultron (12A.)
Directed by Joss Whedon.
Starring Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johanasson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner. 141 mins
These days I'm never far away from someone telling me that they no longer go out to the cinema because it is being killed by all these stupid superhero movies. I strongly disagree; some of the most thrilling and inventive pieces of cinema of recent years have been from comic books and I'd definitely include the first Avengers film in that. The follow up seems to improve on it in most every aspect, being funnier, faster and containing almost non-stop action. It just isn't as much fun, though. If you aren't totally committed to all the intricacies of the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe saga, it may be the moment when all this superhero stuff gets a bit much.
When the child became a man, he put away childish things. When Joss Whedon became a man he kept the childish things, but just wrote them in a grown up way. In the Avengers films he catches the voices just right. He gives these superheroes self awareness and allows them to laugh and revel at their own absurdity, which gives the wider audience more license to accept their own silliness in caring about them.
The first had a marvelous innocence to it, and an infectious joy. There's precious little innocence here. The film jumps straight into a battle scene and keeps things moving at a fearful clip, as if there was an enormous checklist of stuff to get through and the film is just racing to tick off all the boxes. Early on there is a party sequence where most of the cast exchange quips and the kind of casual debunking that made the first film so enjoyable. But such is the squeeze caused by the need to shove in all the old and new characters and get through the five major action sequences that after this the dialogue scenes become “talky bits” where the film seems to stop dead in its tracks and people nip off to the toilet.
In the first one Whedon finally gave us a successful on-screen Hulk. In this one he manages to find a use for Jeremy Renner's bow and arrow man Hawkeye. He also makes The Avengers an allegory of American foreign policy. They don't save New York this time, but instead operate in a world that is wary of these US backed bringer of justice. At one point the Hulk goes on a rampage in an African city, demolishing a building that collapses and generates a dust cloud reminiscent of 9/11.
Age of Ultron is, by any reckoning, tremendous entertainment. It has a wonderful cast delivering great dialogue amongst beautifully rendered set pieces. It is everything you'd expect of it and that everything gets to be kind of arduous.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Thor 2
Iron Man 3
.
